THE 


LORD’S  DAY, 

AND 

%\t  faburtr  s gigjt  tc  its  ^tst. 


BY  THE 

Rev.  W.  M.  BLACKBURN, 

ERIE,  PA. 


PHILADELPHIA : 

PRESBYTERIAN  BOARD  OF  PUBLICATION. 

NO.  821  CHESTNUT  STREET. 


/»&0. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1859,  by 
JAMES  DUNLAP,  Treas., 

in  the  Clerk’s  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Eastern  District 
of  Pennsylvania. 


STEREOTYPED  BY 

WILLIAM  W.  HARDING, 

INQUIRER  BUILDING,  SOUTH  THIRD  STREET,  PHILADELPHU. 


THE  LORD’S  DAY, 

AND  THE 

LABOURER’S  RIGHT  TO  ITS  REST. 


The  Sabbath  was  made  for  Man,  and  not  Man  for  the 
Sabbath.  Mark  ii.  27. 

If  this  counsel  or  this  work  be  of  Men,  it  will  come 
to  nought  ; BUT  IF  IT  BE  OF  GOD,  YE  CANNOT  OVERTHROW  IT  J 
LEST  HAPLY  YE  BE  FOUND  EVEN  TO  FIGHT  AGAINST  GOD. 

Acts  v.  38,  39. 

Yes,  child  of  suffering,  thou  may’st  well  be  sure, 

He  who  ordained  the  Sabbath,  loves  the  poor. — Holmes. 

In  the  city  of  the  Great  King,  “ the  council  and 
all  the  senate  of  the  children  of  Israel”  were  once 
assembled.  Before  them  were  arraigned  a few  hum- 
ble Christians,  for  having  preached  redemption  in 
the  streets.  Their  defence  was,  ‘‘  YVe  ought  to  obey 
God  rather  than  men.”  They  explained  their  work, 
and  illustrated  their  commission,  by  preaching 
Christ  crdcified  in  the  very  face  of  their  accusers 


4 


THE  lord’s  day,  AND  THE 


and  judges.  The  spirit  of  slaughter  was  in  their 
enemies.  They  were  likely  to  be  judged  worthy  of 
death,  with  as  little  justice  as  their  Lord  had  been. 

To  the  honour  of  human  wisdom,  (if,  indeed,  it 
was  not  an  inspiration,)  one  of  their  most  influential 
counsellors  rose  and  uttered  one  of  the  profoun- 
dest  arguments  ever  proposed  for  the  defence  of 
Christianity,  and  one  of  the  most  solemn  cautions 
ever  given  to  its  enemies  ; “ If  this  counsel  or  this 
work  be  of  men,  it  will  come  to  nought ; but  if  it 
be  of  God,  ye  cannot  overthrow  it;  lest  haply  ye 
be  found  even  to  tight  against  God.” 

In  the  words  of  those  disciples,  which  are  as 
plain  and  self-evident  as  any  maxim  can  be,  is  our 
authority  for  observing  every  truly  religious  insti- 
tution. In  the  words  of  that  wise  counsellor,  at 
whose  feet  once  sat  a youth  whom  God  called  to  be 
Paul,  an  apostle,  is  our  argument  for  all  such  re- 
ligious institutions.  How  little  is  any  counsel  or 
work  of  men  ! How  vast  and  glorious  the  counsel 
and  work  of  God  ! Who  will  contend  against  the 
Almighty  and  succeed  ‘f  The  argument  came  from 
one  who  was  not  a Christian.  He  was  an  opposer 
of  Christianity.  It  was  admitted  by  his  associates 
to  be  a good  argument.  It  ought  to  have  great 
force  with  all  who  take  counsel  against  the  ordinan- 


labourer’s  right  to  its  rest.  5 


ces  of  religion.  His  caution  was  modestly  proposed, 
lest  haply/’  lest  peradventure.  It  pointed  out  the 
possibility  of  an  extreme  course — ‘‘  even  to  fight ! ” 
Instead  of  reform,  it  might  be  rage.  He  showed 
the  direction  of  that  rage  even  against  God  !”  It 
is  possible  to  go  too  far  against  men,  and  oppose  too 
extremely  what  human  law  and  common  consent 
have  established,  but  it  is  surely  a reckless  endea- 
vour to  carry  the  war  against  the  ordinances  of 
God.  ^^Even  to  fight  against  God!”  What  a 
caution  to  all  ultra  agitators  of  the  public  mind  I 
In  our  day,  old  institutions  are  attacked  with 
new  art.  The  human  must  fall,  the  Divine  can- 
not be  overthrown.  The  cry  is  to  reform,  to 
modify,  to  reconstruct.  No  one  doubts  that  certain 
reforms  are  needed.  Evils,  which  arise  from 
human  enactments,  need  reforming.  No  evils  can 
arise  from  the  right  observance  of  Divine  enact- 
ments. Many  have  here  fallen  into  an  error.  In 
trying  to  reform  certain  human  evils,  they  have 
rashly  laid  the  fault  upon  Divine  institutions,  and 
imagined  they  could  reform,  or  modify,^  or  repeal 
them.  The  Church  is  not  ours  to  modify;  the 
errors,  if  there  are  any  foisted  into  it,  are  ours  to 
reform.  So  we  may  say  of  all  ordinances,  all 
doctrines,  all  laws,  which  come  from  God.  The 
1* 


6 THE  lord’s  day,  AND  THE 

Sabbath  is  not  ours  to  modify  or  repeal  for  any 
class  of  men  ; if  there  are  any  errors  thrown  about 
its  observance,  let  us  reform  them.  It  is  not  the 
Sabbath,  but  human  conduct  that  needs  reforming. 

The  effort  is,  to  make  us  think  there  is  nothing 
settled,  nothing  established — that  all  is  afloat,  and 
that  the  institutions,  which  have  been  precious 
to  our  fathers  and  to  the  Church  through  all  gen- 
erations, now  need  a reconstruction.  This  is  a shallow 
device.  God  saw  these  to  be  ^‘very  good,”  and  we 
shall  find  it  the  wisest  for  us,  to  still  believe  that 
God  is  wiser  than  men,  and  yield  to  his  infinitely 
higher  authority. 

The  Sabbath  question  belongs  to  the  whole 
country  as  well  as  to  the  larger  cities,  to  the 
Church  even  more  than  to  the  State.  The  late 
agitation  should  call  our  attention  to  our  Christian 
rights.  The  cry  of  rights”  may  lead  us  to  see 
what  is  truth  and  right.  We  shall  best  advocate  the 

poor  man’s  rights”  when  we  all  pay  due  respect 
to  the  just  and  merciful  claims  of  God.  Every  city, 
every  village,  every  neighbourhood,  every  church, 
every  family,  every  man,  woman,  and  child,  has 
a mighty  interest  in  the  question,  Shall  we  have  a 
Sabbath  inviolate  ? Do  away  with  the  Sabbath 
in  one  quarter,  and  you  set  it  aside  in  another.  Let 


labourer’s  right  to  its  rest.  7 

one  man  do  business  on  that  holy  day,  and  you 
allow  a hundred  men  to  do  wickedness  which  no 
day  should  allow.  Let  a corporation  run  their 
machinery  on  the  Sabbath,  and  you  are  licensing 
a thousand  machinations  of  evil  in  the  community. 
Let  one  class  of  men  turn  the  Sabbath  into  a 
day  of  amusement,  and  you  tempt  all  classes  to  im- 
morality. Let  us  look  at  this  question  as  the 
times  demand. 

I.  None  will  deny  that  the  Sabbath  has  long 
been  regarded  by  State  and  by  Church  as  a fixed 
institution.  It  is  no  new  thing.  It  is  no  party 
scheme.  It  is  not,  like  the  Maine  law,”  an 
experiment,  which  we  are  to  test,  and  prove  either 
inexpedient  or  beneficial.  It  is  not  an  ordinary 
common  consent  observance,  like  the  custom  of 
making  Friday  a fast  day.  It  is  not  merely  a 
traditional  observance  like  that  of  a “ saint’s  day,’^ 
Easter,  or  Christmas,  or  New  Year,  or  the  Fourth 
of  July.  It  is  not  merely  a convenient  appoint- 
ment, like  that  of  Monday  for  the  opening  of 
courts,  or  of  congress.  Ask  why  these  days  are 
observed,  and  no  very  substantial  reason  can  be 
assigned.  But  for  the  Sabbath  there  is  a reason. 
On  the  highest  authority  of  Church  and  State 
it  has  long  since  been  established. 


8 


THE  lord’s  day,  AND  THE 


IT.  On  what  is  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath 
founded  ? May  we  not  say  on  natural  laws  ? There 
is  a law  of  labour  and  a law  of  rest.  Our  human 
nature  demands  a regard  to  each  of  them.  The 
rest  of  the  night  is  not  enough ; working  animals 
require  also  the  proportion  of  one  day  in  seven. 
The  human  body  requires  a seventh  of  days,  as 
well  as  the  seven  nights.  In  manufactories  and 
on  farms  this  has  been  tested.  The  human  mind 
demands  this  seventh  of  our  days.  In  our  schools, 
colleges,  counting  rooms,  and  business  offices  the 
test  has  been  sufficiently  made  to  prove  it;  and 
mark  you,  there  is  another  rest  required  than  mere 
sleep;  a rest  in  our  wakefulness,  a relief  from  work 
and  trade  given  to  us  when  awake,  by  shutting 
the  doors  of  the  store  and  the  shop,  and  the  gates 
of  the  field.  It  should  be  a wakeful,  noiseless, 
undisturbed  rest. 

May  we  not  say  it  is  founded  on  social  neces- 
sities ? Social  order  and  cleanliness  are  promoted 
by  a well  kept  Sabbath.  Business  ceases.  The 
smoke  is  blown  away.  The  dust  finds  not  the 
sweat  of  the  brow,  by  which  to  fasten  on  the  face 
of  the  toiler.  Temptations  are  lessened,  vices  are 
checked,  and  dissipation  shrinks  away.  Men  give 
their  minds  to  better  thoughts  and  nobler  pur- 


labourer’s  right  to  its  rest. 


9 


poses.  There  is  a respite  from  the  school  of  mam- 
mon, and  higher,  holier  instruction  is  imparted. 

May  we  not  say  on  moral  necessities  ? There  are 
no  high  morals  where  there  are  no  Sabbaths.  Go 
to  a village  to  test  the  morals  of  its  people,  and 
how  naturally  you  wait  till  the  Sabbath  comes  ! 
The  silent  streets  tell  you.  The  ringing  hells  tell 
you.  The  voices  of  praise  from  family  and  congre- 
gation tell  you.  This  was  one  of  God’s  tests  of  a 
nation’s  morality.  As  a specimen  of  national  sins 
and  degradation,  the  Lord  said,  The  adversaries 
did  mock  her  Sabbaths.”  My  Sabbaths  they 
greatly  polluted.”  No  political  or  social  test  is  so 
good  as  this,  for  this  is  Biblical,  moral,  and  re- 
ligious. If  you  would  know  the  moral  character 
of  a man,  or  a community,  ask  how  the  Sabbath 
is  observed;  and  surely  none  will  doubt  that 
high  morals  are  necessary  to  our  well-being. 

On  religious  necessities  too.  We  need  more 
than  a Sunday  religion,  a Sunday  conscience,  a 
Sunday  worship,  but  if  we  would  have  an  every 
day — an  all-the-week  religion,  we  need  a Sabbath 
to  give  it  strength  and  new  life.  With  this  great 
help,  we  shall  still  come  too  far  short.  Private 
worship  is  held  by  the  Christian  every  day.  The 
morning  prayer,  the  song  in  the  shop  or  field, 


10  THE  lord’s  day,  AND  THE 

the  heavenward  thought  and  affection  by  the  way, 
the  evening  song  of  gratitude  in  the  house,  the 
remembrance  of  Grod  in  the  night  watches,  are 
for  every  day  in  the  week.  But  private  devotion 
soon  dies  if  the  Sabbath  worship  be  not  observed ; 
and  that  Sabbath  worship  will  not  be  faithfully 
observed,  if  there  be  no  public  worship,  and  how 
maintain  it  without  an  express  day  ? When  would 
all  people  agree  to  give  up  their  pursuits  and  have 
a Sabbath  ? When  too,  would  many  of  the  poor  be 
instructed,  the  outcast  be  sought,  the  children, un- 
taught at  home,  be  gathered  in  groups  for  receiving 
the  lessons  of  the  gospel,  if  there  were  no  Sabbath? 
If  health,  happy  life,  order,  purity,  social  quiet, 
morals,  and  religion  are  worth  promoting  on  the 
earth,  then  a Sabbath  is  most  imperatively  deman- 
ded. It  is  with  many  busy  people,  the  Bible-day, 
the  moral  day,  the  religious  day,  and  how  wisely 
does  it  usher  in  their  week  of  work  ! 

This  is  not  all,  nor  the  half.  The  Sabbath  has 
more  solid  foundation  than  natural  laws,  and  social, 
moral,  and  religious  necessities.  It  is  not  man’s 
Sabbath.  It  is  the  Sabbath  of  the  Lord  your 
God.” 

The  Sabbath  is  either  a human,  or  a Divine  in- 
stitution. Even  if  it  be  human  in  its  origin  and 


; LABOURER'S  RIGHT  TO  ITS  REST.  11 

authority,  its  overthrow  might  prove  a sad  curse 
on  society.  The  innovation  upon  long  established 
usages  might  work  extensive  and  incurable  in- 
jury. If  human,  it  will,  of  itself,  come  to  nought, 
when  it  ceases  to  be  a blessing  to  the  families  of 
the  earth. 

All  who  hold,  however  vaguely,  to  the  Divine 
authority  of  the  moral  law,  admit  the  Sabbath 
; was  once  a Divine  institution.  We  shall  not  now 
enter  on  this  discussion.  If  it  was  once  Divine, 
it  is  a Divine  institution  now.  The  Lord  of  the 
: Sabbath  changed  the  day,  when  he  changed  the 

I dispensation.  But  did  this  repeal  the  Sabbath  ? 

[ Did  a change  of  dispensation  repeal  the  principles 
I of  morals  and  religion  ? The  place  of  worship 
was  changed,  (John  iv.  21-24,)  but  did  this  annul 
the  first  commandment  ? The  promise  annexed 
j to  the  fifth  commandment  is  somewhat  modified 
' in  its  application  to  us,  but  does  that  repeal  the 

I law,  Honour  thy  father  and  thy  mother  Places 
and  times  may  change,  but  principles  of  morality 
I are  eternal.* 

W e know  that  our  Lord  sanctioned  the  first  day  of 
the  week  as  a Sabbath,  that  one  half  of  his  recorded 
appearances  after  the  Resurrection  were  on  that  day, 
that  the  Holy  Ghost  descended  on  that  day  with  the 
^ See  Appendix  A. 


12  THE  lord’s  day,  AND  THE 

promise  of  the  Father,”  that  the  disciples  cele- 
brated it  regularly  as  the  day  of  worship,  and  that 
all  their  teaching  directs  us  to  follow  their  example.* 
It  received  a new  name,  “ the  Lord’s  day.’^ 

Consider,  too,  that  the  Sabbath  is  established 
independently  of  the  moral  law.  Two  incompar- 
able events  form  its  support : God’s  resting  from 
the  work  of  Creation,  and  Christ’s  rising  from  the 
dead.  It  is  founded  on  miracles,  as  well  as  on 
morals. 

We  must  not,  however,  undervalue  its  estab- 
lishment on  morals.  The  law  of  Sabbath  keeping 
is  a moral  law,  “ Keep  the  Sabbath  day  to  sanctify 
it,  as  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  commanded  thee.” 

If  it  be  not  a sin  to  break  the  Sabbath,  then  it 
is  not  a sin  to  steal.  Can  any  body  of  men  repeal 
the  law  against  theft,  the  law  against  murder,  the 
law  against  falsehood  ? How  then  repeal  the  Sab- 
bath ? If  you  allow  some  to  disregard  one  moral 
law,  why  not  grant  a license  to  violate  the  entire 
code  ? If  a company  of  men,  associated,  may 
run  their  cars  on  the  Sabbath,  why  not  grant  them 
full  license  to  run  over  every  man  that  stands 
heedless  on  the  track  ? Suppose  a corporation 
ask  a license  to  crush  all  morals,  violate  all  social 
happiness,  and  destroy  religion,  could  a city  grant 
* See  Appendix  B. 


labourer’s  right  to  its  rest.  IB 

that  ? Could  a legislature  ? Could  any  human 
power  ? Every  anti-Sabbath  movement  tends  to 
this.  No  wonder,  then,  that  the  intentionally  op- 
probrious charge  against  our  religious  body  is  true, 
yes,  honourable  in  the  highest  degree.  We  believe 
it  is  true  of  other  denominations  also. 

They  had  and  still  have  all  the  rigidity  of  Knox 
and  Calvin  relative  to  the  Sabbath.  They  are  not 
likely  at  this  day  to  yield  it.  The  observance  of 
the  Sabbath  constitutes  the  corner  stone  of  their 
religion.  By  it,  and  with  it,  they  will  stand. 
No  reasoning,  political  or  theological,  could  induce 
them  to  yield  an  iota  of  their  belief,  no  matter 
how  forcibly  urged  or  strongly  presented.”  Of 
course  not ! “ We  will  obey  God  rather  than  men.” 
Of  whom,  alone,  is  a repeal  of  the  Sabbath  to  be 
asked  ? Of  God  alone.  Yes,  you  must  have  the 
face  to  ask  God  to  repeal  his  moral  law,  and 
when  we  petition  men,  especially  corporations,  to 
observe  the  Sabbath,  let  us  do  it  wisely.  It  may 
appear  prudence  to  ask  it  of  them  as  a favour  to 
us — ask  that  we  may  be  undisturbed  in  our  wor- 
ship. Is  it  not  wise  to  ask  it  respectfully  on  moral 
grounds,  as  our  right  and  as  God’s  requirement  y 
They  will  respect  us  for  principles,  where  they 
might  not  hear  us  for  policy. 

2 


14  THE  lord’s  day,  AND  THE 

III.  What  was  the  design  of  the  Sabbath  ? 

O 

Was  it,  alone,  that  the  Lord  God  might  take 
delight  in  its  observance  ? Pleasing  indeed,  to 
Him,  must  it  have  been  to  rest  as  he  did,  after 
the  first  six  days,  and  behold  how  harmoniously 
the  natural  laws  of  Creation  produced  their  effects, 
and  manifested  his  glory.  Pleasing,  indeed,  to 
Him,  to  behold  how  the  moral  laws  produced  their 
effects  on  this  day  of  human  rest,  as  men  laid  aside 
the  garments  of  labour,  refreshed  their  minds  with 
thanksgivings,  entered  his  courts  with  praise, 
gave  their  thoughts  to  higher,  holier  themes  than 
worldly  gains  and  studies,  and  let  their  hearts 
express  their  love  to  the  Father  of  life,  for  his 
unspeakable  gift ; more  pleasing  than  for  us  to 
look  on  the  landscape  after  the  storm,  which  caused 
every  tree  to  groan,  has  passed  by,  and  the  calm 
and  sunshine  are  resting  there  in  freshest  beauty. 

But  this  alone  was  not  the  design.  The  Sab- 
bath was  made  for  man.”  It  helps  make  him  holier 
and  happier.  It  gives  him  a rest  for  the  pro- 
motion of  righteousness.  It  helps  elevate  him 
individually,  socially,  mentally,  and  morally.  It 
leads  him  heavenward,  to  that  rest  which  remains 
for  the  people  of  God.  It  makes  his  Saturday- 


labourer’s  right  to  its  rest.  15 

night  a time  for  happier  review  of  the  six  toilsome 
days.  It  makes  him,  on  Monday  morning,  feel 
his  strength  renewed  for  honest  labour.  It  gives 
him  a more  cheerful  face  to  his  neighbour’s  greeting 
along  the  way  ; a clearer  mind  for  honest  calcula- 
tions ; a warmer  heart  for  benevolence ; a more 
skilful  hand  for  the  plough  of  the  field,  or  the  pen 
of  the  study  or  counting  house,  or  the  plane  of 
the  shop ; a purer  conscience,  and  a firmer  courage 
to  resist  temptation  and  fulfil  the  noblest  resolu- 
tions of  his  holier  hours.  Yes,  the  Sabbath  was 
made  for  man ; made  for  the  rich  man  to  keep 
holy ; made  for  the  poor  man  so  that  he  may  say. 
This  is  the  day  which  the  Lord  hath  made,  we 
will  rejoice  and  be  glad  in  it.”  Every  man  is  the 
better  for  keeping  it  holy.  No  one  is  so  poor  that 
he  may  violate  it.  No  classes  of  men  are  so  con- 
fined to  toils,  that  they  may  turn  the  day  to  mirth 
and  noisy  glee.  “ It  is  an  institution  of  mercy. 
In  perfect  harmony  with  the  gospel  it  heightens 
good-will  and  kindness  to  men.  It  brings,  as  Cole- 
ridge well  expressed  it,  fifty-two  spring  days  every 
year  to  this  toilsome  world;  and  may  justly  be  re- 
garded as  a sweet  remnant  of  Paradise,  mitigating 
the  now  inevitable  burdens  of  life,  and  connecting 


16  THE  lord’s  day,  AND  THE 

the  region  of  bliss  that  has  been  lost  with  the  still 
brighter  glory  that  is  to  come.”* 

lY.  It  is  a day  when  we  should  lay  aside  as  many 
social  distinctions  as  possible.  The  rich  and  the 
poor  meet  together  before  Him,  who  is  the  Maker 
of  them  all.  Lofty  and  lowly  should  bow  in  praise 
before  Him.  Let  not  any  class  so  dress  for  the 
house  of  God,  that  another  shall  feel  excluded. 
Let  the  ornaments  of  glittering,  fickle  fashion,  be 
laid  aside  by  the  wealthy ; and  those  of  plainest 
garb,  often  of  the  most  fervent  piety,  will  not  be 
ashamed  to  sit  beside  them  in  the  house  of  prayer 
and  praise.  How  many  a little  jewel  becomes 
a huge  stumbling  block,  when  out  of  place  ! So 
too  of  tastes,  literary  cultivation,  and  artistic  refine- 
ment. Shall  all  the  services,  especially  the  preach- 
ing and  singing,  be  arranged  to  benefit  only  the 
few,  while  the  many  would  be  denied  a hearty  enjoy- 
ment therein  ? Is  there  not  a fault  here  ? Is  there 
not  a reason  here,  why  many  feel  reluctant  to  go 
to  the  house  of  God  ? Should  the  poorest  feel 
that  their  best  and  neatest  garb  is  in  painful  con- 
trast with  the  costly  decorations  upon  those  for 
whom  they  nobly  toiled  during  the  six  long  days  ? 


* Fairbairn’s  Typology.  Vol.  ii.  p.  113. 


labourer’s  right  to  its  rest.  17 


Let  plainness  and  neatness  ( for  in  some  respects 
cleanliness  is  next  to  godliness”)  take  the  prece- 
dence of  showy  fashion  ; let  the  humblest  and 
most  illiterate  feel  that  they  have  a part  in  both 
sermon  and  song,  and  then  many  vacant  seats  in 
the  churches  will  be  filled,  many  of  the  labouring 
classes  will  be  saved  from  the  degradation  which 
attends  Sabbath-breaking,  and  many  of  those  who 
stroll  through  lanes  or  streets  upon  Grod’s  holy 
day  will  become  keepers  at  home,  searching  the 
Scriptures  to  find  the  truth  of  the  things  declared 
in  the  sanctuary.  The  movement,  in  Paris,  and 
in  some  other  cities,  tending  toward  greater  sim- 
plicity of  dress  for  the  Sabbath  day,  should 
not  be  a mere  novel  fashion.  There  is  sound 
principle  for  the  support  of  such  a custom.  It  is 
well  for  church-going  people  to  consider  whether 
their  modes  of  dress  do  not  keep  many  of  the 
labouring  classes  out  of  the  house  of  God.  The 
remedy  is  easy.  1 Pet.  iii. ; James  ii. 

y.  There  are  those  who  would  pervert  the  Sab- 
bath. “ When  will  the  Sabbath  be  gone  When 
will  its  strictness  be  done  away  ? They  complain 
of  the  stringency  of  human  laws,  and  the  strong 
force  of  religious  opinion.  They  are  not  asking 
that  men  shall  be  allowed  to  labour  on  the  Sabbath. 

2* 


18  THE  lord’s  day,  AND  THE 

They  claim  it  as  a day  of  rest.  They  admit 
its  necessity  as  a resting  day ; the  only  day,  say 
they,  that  man  is  not  the  slave  of  man,  that  the 
smoking  factory,  the  hissing  engine,  does  not 
claim  him  as  a slave ; that  grasping  Commerce 
can  relax  her  hold ; that  the  teeming,  overtasked 
brain  can  sink  into  contemplation  and  repose,  and 
think,  not  for  the  public  and  the  world,  but  for 
itself.” 

Yes,  they  plead  for  a Sabbath.  But  how  would 
they  have  it  kept  ? In  Grod’s  way,  as  a day  of 
worship,  of  religious  instruction,  of  holy  culture, 
of  mercy  ? Do  they  call  upon  the  Church  to  help 
the  poor  man  to  the  house  of  Grod,  to  put  gar- 
ments on  the  beggar  and  show  his  feet  the  way 
to  the  altar,  to  gather  the  idlers  of  the  streets 
and  teach  them  the  law  of  God,  the  gospel  of 
Christ,  and  do  something  to  promote  brotherhood 
between  the  rich  and  the  poor  ? No  ! They  would 
separate  the  poor  from  the  rich,  and  fire  the  la- 
bourer’s soul  with  sophistical  complaints.  They 
would  send  the  classes,  for  whom  they  pretend 
to  plead  in  guardianship,  away  from  the  altar,  away 
from  the  cross,  away  from  their  Bibles,  away  from 
their  God.  They  would  pervert  the  day  of  worship 
into  a day  of  amusement,  although  the  amusements 


labourer’s  right  to  its  rest. 


19 


would  prove  so  many  steps  to  dissipation.  They 
point  the  labourer  away  from  the  sanctuary,  to  the 
grove,  the  seaside,  and  the  pleasure-ground.  “ Let 
him  see  Grod’s  works,”  they  say,  after  shutting 
God’s  words  from  his  eyes.  And  what  must  be 
done  to  secure  all  this  ? The  car  and  the  carriage 
must  run  and  rattle  through  the  streets.  To  drivers 
and  conductors  the  order  must  go,  “You  must 
labour  on  the  Sabbath  or  give  up  your  place  3 
work  on  Sunday  or  sacrifice  your  family  !”  Hotels 
by  the  seaside  must  be  filled.  Crowds  must  disturb 
the  worship  of  those  who  are  assembled  in  churches 
near  the  park  and  the  grove.  Bands  of  music  must 
be  enlisted  for  the  day.  Perhaps  a “ show”  would 
be  soon  demanded,  or  a “ regatta,”  or  a “ race,”  or 
“ prize-fight,”  and  perhaps  an  introduction  of 
more  exciting  Spanish  Sunday  amusements  would 
be  soon  demanded.  If  you  undertake  to  amuse 
people,  where  will  you  stop  ? No  one  amusement 
lasts  long;  more  exciting  games  must  follow  those 
which  become  tedious,  and  where  will  the  people 
stop  ? Not  with  merriment.  They  are  impelled 
to  dissipation.  There  is  no  telling  the  conse- 
quences of  the  perversion  of  the  Sabbath.  The  poor 
man’s  face  would  show  it.  His  family,  his  home, 
his  shop,  would  declare  it.  He  would  lose  em- 


20  THE  lord’s  day,  AND  THE 

plojment,  lose  character,  lose  liis  soul.  Said 
Daniel  Webster  : “ I once  defended  a man  charged 
with  the  awful  crime  of  murder.  At  the  con- 
clusion of  the  trial,  I asked  him  what  could  induce 
him  to  stain  his  hands  with  the  blood  of  a fellow 
being.  Turning  his  blood-shot  eyes  full  upon  me, 
he  replied,  in  a voice  of  despair,  ‘ Mr.  Webster, 
in  my  youth  I spent  the  holy  Sabbath  in  evil 
amusements,  instead  of  frequenting  the  house  of 
prayer  and  praise.’  Could  we  go  back  to  the  early 
years  of  all  hardened  criminals,  I believe,  firmly 
believe,  that  their  first  departure  from  the  path  of 
morality,  was  when  they  abandoned  the  Sabbath- 
school,  and  their  subsequent  crimes  might  thus 
be  traced  back  to  the  neglect  of  youthful  religious 
instruction.” 

Lord  Castlereagh,  an  Irish  statesman  who  pos- 
sessed excellent  natural  endowments,  took  his  own 
life,  and  when  one  of  his  earliest  and  best  friends 
heard  of  the  suicide,  he  exclaimed,  ^^Poor  Cas- 
tlereagh ! he  had  no  Sabbath  ! ” 

YI.  Notice  the  plea  for  this  Sabbath  desecration  j 
a professed  sympathy  for  the  labouring  classes. 
They  work  hard  all  the  week.  They  go  alternately 
from  heated  homes  to  heated  shops.  When  can 
they  linger  in  the  parks  ? When  sit  down  in  the 


labourer’s  right  to  its  rest. 


21 


cool  shade  of  the  grove  and  feel  at  rest  ? When 
stand  by  the  sea-shore  and  watch  the  playing  of  the 
waves  ? When  wander  by  the  shaded  stream,  and 
feel  their  pulses  beat  with  fresher  energy  ? When 
look  about  on  that  creation  on  which  God’s  eye 
fell  when  he  rested  from  all  his  work  ? ” When 
bare  the  forehead  to  the  pure  breeze  and  feel  that 
half  of  liberty  is  to  breathe  fresh  air?  When  do 
their  lungs  freely  play  and  shake  consumption  off  ? 
Truly  this  calls  for  sympathy.  And  hence  some, 
who  assume  to  have  the  only  sympathies  felt  for 
the  labourer,  plead,  that  the  Sabbath  is  the  day  for 
all  this  recreation  j that  it  is  the  only  day  the  poor 
man  has  for  it,  and  therefore  let  every  facility  be 
furnished  to  promote  this  desecration.! 

Another  class,  the  most  clamorous  on  this  sub- 
ject, is  composed  of  those  who  make  money  by 
Sabbath  violation  ; editors  of  Sunday  papers*  and 
the  venders  of  them  ; keepers  of  shops  and  saloons 
to  which  many  prefer  to  resort  rather  than  stroll 
in  the  country  ; musicians  employed  to  play,  as 
an  enticement  to  bring  patronage  to  the  drinking 
and  gambling  shops ; men  who  make  drunkards 
and  rioters,  whose  support  will  fall  to  hospitals 


* We  know  that  most  of  the  office-work  of  those  papers  is 
not  done  on  the  Sabbath. 


22  THE  lord’s  day,  and  the 

and  asylums,  if  not  to  penitentiaries  ; companies 
whose  machinery  is  productive,  or  whose  livery 
is  for  hire  by  those  who  make  drives  and  excursions 
on  the  Sabbath  ‘ sport-seekers,  who  indulge  in 
angling,  or  hunting,  or  racing  ; and  large  numbers 
whose  bent  is  to  gratify  vicious  propensities,  for 
which  labour  or  law  would  allow  no  other  time. 

Of  these  Sabbath-breakers  we  have  only  to  say 
that  they  deserve  no  such  sympathy  as  that  deman- 
ded. Let  them  turn  to  honesty,  temperance,  good 
order,  and  cease  to  be  corrupters  of  all  with  whom 
they  associate,  and  then,  if  they  are  not  able  to  live 
b}^  six  days  of  honest  effort,  the  Christian  world 
should  render  them  assistance.  Sympathy  for 
them,  and  sympathy  with  them  are  two  very  differ- 
ent things.  The  one  we  cherish,  the  other  would 
ruin  us.  God’s  sympathy  for  them  declares.  The 
Sabbath  was  made  for  them  to  keep  holy.  To  keep 
it  holy,  they  should  keep  themselves  holy. 

Another  class  is  composed  of  those  who  labour  on 
the  Sabbath.  Many  of  them  are  compelled  to  labour 
on  that  day  or  lose  employment  during  the  week, 
for  “ tighter  and  tighter  the  grip  of  toil  groweth.” 
They  would  prefer  to  rest.  Six  days  of  toil  would 
support  their  families.  Conscience  and  interest  are 
in  conflict.  They  do  not  clearly  see  that  conscience 


labourer's  right  to  its  rest. 


23 


would  pave  a better  road  to  prosperity  and  happi- 
ness, and  that  they  should  obey  God  rather  than 
men.  The  picture  is  drawn  in  their  imaginations 
of  an  ejectment  from  their  situations,  of  unsuc- 
cessful appeals  for  employment;  beggared  families, 
driven  from  a neat  cottage  to  a dingy  hovel,  their 
furniture  pawned  for  a pittance  of  daily  supplies ; 
and  their  falling  tears  pervert  conscience  till  it 
says,  “ Keep  your  place  and  break  the  day  ! ” Their 
minds  and  bodies  are  work-worn,  care-worn,  never 
rested,  never  happy.  The  church  to  which  they 
once  resorted,  is  visited  no  more.  The  Sabbath- 
school  is  not  attended  by  the  children.  The  Bible 
lies  with  the  dust  gathering  upon  it.  Perhaps 
that  poor  man’s  name  is  upon  some  church  roll. 
To  his  pastor  he  must  say,  “ I cannot  find  time 
for  religion.  My  business  ! My  business  I This, 
or  worse  ! ” 

Where  are  the  advocates  of  the  rights  and  liber- 
ties of  those  poor  men  ? Many  of  them  work  on 
Sabbath  to  give  others  the  amusement  for  which 
the  sympathetic  plea  is  made  ! These  pleaders  do 
not  take  up  their  cause.  Oh  no  ! give  them  a 
Sabbath,  and  these  other  classes  could  have  no 
means  of  moving  away  from  the  churches  to 
places  where  indulgence  in  mirth  or  wickedness 


24  THE  lord’s  day,  and  the 

could  be  taken.  Surely  we  may  plead,  without 
resort  to  sophistries,  for  those  who  are  compelled  to 
labour  on  the  day  which  they  choose  to  keep  holy. 
The  Sabbath  was  made  for  them ; shall  they 
not  have  its  benefits  ? 

YII.  Is  there  any  real  force  in  this  plea  for  the 
hard  labourers  of  the  week  ? They  are  overworked. 
Their  faces  are  ground.  They  need  rest.  They 
need  holidays.  They  should  have  their  visits  to 
groves  and  seasides.  They  should  see  the  yellow 
harvests,  the  green  cornfields,  the  flowers  on 
the  lawns,  the  oaks  of  the  vales,  the  rocks  of 
the  mountain.  Their  children  should  see  the 
works  of  God,  and  be  told  they  are  specimens  of 
his  creation,  among  which  there  are  innumerable 
evidences  that  his  “ tender  mercies  are  over  all 
his  works,”  and  from  which  come  a thousand  songs 
to  show  his  glory  and  cheer  their  hearts.  They 
should  have  their  play  by  the  brooks  and  their 
romps  upon  the  green  grass.  They  should  see 
and  gather  some  illustrations  of  the  rich  imagery 
of  the  Bible,  and  with  grateful  emotion  combine 
the  harmonies  between  God’s  works  and  his  holy 
word.  Let  them  see  how  “ lie  seiideth  the  springs 
into  the  valleys  which  run  among  the  hills  ; ” how 

the  fowls  of  the  heaven  have  their  habitation, 


labourer’s  right  to  its  rest.  25 


wliich  sing  among  the  branches ; ” how  He  wat- 
ereth  the  hills  from  his  chambers ; the  earth  is 
satisfied  with  the  fruit  of  His  works.  He  causeth 
the  grass  to  grow  for  the  cattle,  and  herb  for  the 
service  of  man  ; that  he  may  bring  forth  food  out 
of  the  earth  ; ” how  the  earth  is  the  Lord’s  and  the 
fulness  thereof;  the  world  and  they  that  dwell 
therein.” 

But  we  ask  candidly  ; Is  this  any  reason  why 
they  should  violate  the  Sabbath  of  the  Lord  their 
God  ? The  violation  is  not  in  beholding  God’s 
works.  It  is  in  the  Sabbath  travel,  and  the  amuse- 
ment for  which  the  excursion  is  made. 

Consider,  that  the  more  honest,  upright,  and 
Christian  labourers  do  not  make  this  plea.  They 
would  not  desecrate  the  Sabbath,  if  the  law  allowed 
it.  Some  of  the  best  essays  upon  this  subject 
have  come  from  labouring  men  ; one  of  these  says, 

Let  us,  who  are  working  men,  and  who  profess 
to  know  something  of  our  rights  in,  and  our  duties 
on,  the  Sabbath,  inform  the  patriots  of  our  day 
that  our  condition  is  not  to  be  improved  by  any 
innovation  of  its  sacred  injunctions.  We  are  not 
to  sell  our  sacred  birthright  fora  mess  of  pottage.”* 


* TorcTi  of  Time,  (Presbyterian  Board  of  Publication,)  p.  7. 

3 


26  THE  lord’s  day,  and  the 

Consider  too  that  the  Sabbath  law  is  God’s  law 
If  you  repeal  the  Sabbath  for  the  poor  man’s 
benefit,  whj  not  repeal  the  law  against  theft,  and 
let  him  help  himself  from  his  neighbour’s  granary  ? 
If  you  allow  one  his  amusements,  why  not  allow 
another  his  gain  by  selling  goods,  or  tilling  the 
soil  ? 

Do  you  think  the  Sabbath  law  comes  hard  upon 
him  ? Does  not  the  law  of  the  seasons  come 
harder,  according  to  such  reasoning — winter’s  cold 
when  thousands  beg — summer’s  heat  when  thou- 
sands faint  away  and  contract  diseases  ? Can  you 
repeal  the  law  of  the  seasons?  Neither  can  you 
repeal  the  law  of  the  Sabbath.  You  have  no 
power  over  the  one,  and  no  right  over  the  other. 
But  we  deny  that  the  Sabbath  makes  the  poor 
man’s  lot  the  harder  to  bear.  It  was  made  for 
him.  It  is  his  day  of  days,  whose  “ rest  hath 
wings  to  fold  o’er  hearts  a-weary.  ” You  rob  him 
of  his  ‘‘  rights”  when  you  take  away  his  Sabbath. 
You  deny  his  children  their  pleasure  in  his  fatherly 
affections,  their  instruction  in  his  lessons  of  love. 
Never  can  I think  that  this  plea  comes  from  the 
Christian  cottager,  to  whom  a Sabbath  at  home  is 
a feeble  type  of  his  Father’s  house.  He  can  say. 


labourer’s  right  to  its  rest.  27 


Oh  day,  most  calm,  most  bright! 

The  fruit  of  this,  the  next  world’s  bud, 

The  indorsement  of  supreme  delight. 

Writ  by  a Friend,  and  with  his  blood ; 

The  couch  of  time  ; care’s  balm  and  bay  j 
The  week  were  dark  but  for  thy  light ; 

Thy  torch  doth  show  the  way. — Herbert. 

Consider  too,  that  those  classes  of  labourers 
who  have  violated  the  Sabbath  have  made  them- 
selves worse  and  worse,  and  made  their  condition 
the  harder  to  bear.  In  England  the  experiment 
was  prolific  of  evil.*  The  Sunday  entertainments 
proved  demoralizing.  In  America,  where  young 
independence”  grows  even  more  reckless,  there 
can  be  no  good  results.  Troops  that  go  out  in 
the  Sunday  cars  do  not  keep  the  day  in  refreshing 
and  innocent  amusements.  They  do  not  return, 
rested  in  body  and  purer  in  heart.  Wicked  men 
will  not  let  them  alone.  They  follow  them,  like 
harpies,  to  privily  catch  the  poor  for  a reward.  The 
worst  enemy  of  the  labouring  classes  is  the  man, 
who  for  selfish  ends  would  have  the  Sabbath  desec- 
rated. 

YIII.  There  is  a “ more  excellent  way”  to  give 
the  labourers  the  recreation  asked  for  them.  The 


* See  Appendix  C. 


28  THE  lord’s  day,  and  the 

poorest  man  gains  nothing  by  a disregard  of  tlie 
Sabbath.  The  poorest  family  should  have  the  liberty 
of  the  grand  woods,  and  the  merry  brooks.  But 
how  ? Not  by  taking  God’s  time.  Take  time  from 
the  six  days.  Let  the  employer  give  him  time.  He 
is  bound  to  do  this  by  all  the  laws  of  humanity. 
It  would  not  conflict  with  his  own  interests ; an 
overworked  man  will  double  his  service  after  such 
recreations.  Give  him  higher  wages  for  less  time, 
and  there  will  be  no  loss.  The  employer  will  get 
all  that  is  his  right.  The  labourer  will  be  hardier, 
happier,  live  longer,  and  make  his  Sabbath  a type 
of  that  rest,  when  there  shall  be  no  sweat  on  the 
brow,  and  God  shall  wipe  away  all  tears  from 
his  eyes.  God  has  never  said  to  the  poor  man, 
“ Six  days  shalt  thou  labour  for  a hard  master  upon 
the  lowest  wages,  that  the  seventh  may  be  spent 
in  trying  to  regain  strength  and  courage  for  the 
leisureless  toils  of  another  week.”  No,  never  ! There 
is  no  such  doom  upon  the  poor  man,  unless  the 
rich  employers  put  it  there  by  compulsion.  'W^'e 
do  not  believe  that  this  is  mere  theory.  ^S^e  do  not 
think  that  employers  would  lose  by  giving  proper 
week-day  recreation  to  their  labourers;  not  if  they 
expect  to  keep  the  same  labourers,  whose  experience 
can  always  shorten  time  from  year  to  year  in  their 


labourer’s  right  to  its  rest.  29 


establishments.  A fair,  honest  test  would  not 
prove  a fruitless  experiment.  If  you  and  I were 
such  labourers,  we  feel  sure,  that  honour,  self- 
respect,  and  gratitude,  would  allow  nothing  to  be 
lost  by  such  extensions  of  favour.  Nor  is  this  our 
argument  mere  expediency  ! No,  we  plead  prin- 
ciple. Whether  the  employer  gain  or  not,  by 
such  a plan,  in  a worldly  sense,  still  he  is  bound 
to  have  no  such  labour  done  for  him  on  the  Sab- 
bath. He  is  bound  to  let  his  labourers  have  the 
Sabbath  for  religious  observance.  If  they  need 
other  daily  rest,  he  has  no  right  to  deny  it.  He 
does  not  grant  them  the  Sabbath.  It  is  not  from 
his  good-will  that  they  may  rest  on  that  day.  That 
grant  and  that  right  come  from  God— -much  of 
the  hardest  work  in  the  world  is  done  in  the  cities 
by  poor  men,  and  that  for  the  merest  pittance  of 
hire,  and  when  the  cry  comes  up  for  rest  to  these 
labourers,  the  response  is,  “ Turn  the  Sabbath  into 
a merry-day  and  let  them  have  it.”  Oh,  what  will 
not  Mammon  and  Bacchus  dare  to  do  ? What  a 
plea  can  be  made  by  the  sophistries  of  professed 
sympathy  ! Let  Mammon  give  a play  time  to 
this  toiling  crowd  1 Nay,  rather,  let  Mammon  allow 
them  God’s  own  grant  of  proper  leisure  during 
the  six  days  of  toil.  Let  them  have  God’s  holy 
3^ 


30 


THE  lord’s  day,  AND  THE 


day  for  worship.  Let  them  be  welcomed  to  the 
house  of  God,  and  given  a place,  where  they  may 
know  what  there  is  in  Christian  brotherhood.  Let 
not  fashion  drive  them  away  from  the  altars  on 
which  they  may  dedicate  themselves  to  the  Lord, 
a living  offering,  well  pleasing  and  acceptable. 
Let  them  live  and  die  with  this  one  glad  thought ; 
a Sabbath,  inviolate,  unperverted,  unbroken  ! 

IX.  The  Sabbath  was  made  for  man, — made 
a Sabbath  for  man’s  keeping,  and  benefit — and  not' 
man  for  the  Sabbath.*  Man  is  worth  more  than 
the  day.  Better  sacrifice  the  day  for  the  man, 
than  man  for  the  day.  This  applies  to  works  of 
necessity  and  of  mercy.  Better  labour  all  that 
day  to  save  a man,  than  to  let  him  perish,  for  need 
of  a merciful  service.  You  indeed  thus  honour 
the  day,  the  man,  and  the  Lord  God. 

It  does  not  apply  to  the  case  of  allowing  the 
labourer  to  break  God’s  law  for  the  sake  of  amuse- 
ment. If  you  sacrifice  the  day  for  the  man  in 
such  a way,  you  sacrifice  day  and  man  together. 
You  dishonour  the  day,  the  man,  and  the  Lord  God. 


* Matthew  Henry  says — “ Man  was  not  made  for  the  Sab- 
bath ; for  he  was  inndo  a clay  before  the  Sabbath  was  insti- 
tuted. Man  was  made  for  God,  and  for  his  honour  and 
eerrico,  and  ho  must  rather  die  than  deny  him.” 


labourer’s  right  to  its  rest.  31 

You  commit  two  offences : one  against  the  moral 
law,  the  other  against  humanity.  You  desecrate 
morals,  you  degrade  men.  The  poor  man’s  last 
state  would,  thus,  be  worse  than  the  first.  This 
text  has  often  been  perverted,  ‘‘  as  if  the  Lord  had 
been  there  bringing  in  something  new,  instead  of 
explaining  what  was  old ; ” as  if  he  had  intended 
to  relax  the  existing  law,  and  bring  in  some  new 
modification  of  it.”  He  was  not  modifying  the  law. 
He  was  correcting  the  false  notions  of  those  who 
quibbled  at  his  works  of  necessity  and  mercy  on 
that  day.  His  own  example  illustrates  the  words, 
‘‘  The  Sabbath  was  made  for  man.”  For  man, 
as  man  ; not  for  an  Israelite  alone.  So  long  as  man 
exists  as  a species,  so  long  is  the  Sabbath  to 
exist  for  his  benefit  and  observance.  There  is  a 
formula  here,  in  which  the  design  of  every  blessing 
may  be  expressed.  Hold  was  made  for  man,  and 
not  man  for  gold.  Grain  is  “ for  the  service  of 
man,”  and  not  man  for  grain.  You  do  not  annul 
the  appointment  of  gold  or  of  grain  by  this  ex- 
pression. You  do  not  say  that  they  may  be  per- 
verted : the  one  to  be  a means  of  covetousness,  the 
other  to  be  a means  of  producing  alcohol.  You 
declare  that  they  are  simply  means  of  procuring 
a benefit  for  man.  So  is  the  Sabbath  a means  of 


32  THE  lord’s  day,  and  the 

securing  the  highest,  holiest  interest  of  man.  It 
was  not  made  for  man  to  employ  as  he  pleases. 
When  abused,  it  is  not  a Sabbath  to  the  abuser. 
He  makes  it  a day  of  sin.  By  abusing  it  he  scorns  a 
thousand  other  blessings  involved  in  its  observance. 
It  does  not  stand  alone.  All  Christianity  stands 
with  it.  The  good  John  Owen  said,  ‘‘For  my 
part,  I must  not  only  say,  but  plead,  whilst  I live 
in  this  world,  and  leave  this  testimony  to  the 
present  and  future  ages,  that  if  ever  I have  seen 
anything  of  the  ways  and  worship  of  God,  wherein 
the  power  of  religion  or  godliness  hath  been  ex- 
pressed anything  that  hath  represented  the  holi- 
ness of  the  gospel  and  the  Author  of  it;  anything 
that  looked  like  a prelude  to  the  everlasting  Sab- 
bath and  rest  with  God, — it  hath  been  with  them 
. . . among  whom  the  Lord’s  day  hath  been  held  in 
highest  esteem,  and  a strict  observation  of  it 
attended  to,  as  an  ordinance  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.” 

We  have  no  right  to  make  the  Sabbath  bend 
to  any  purposes  of  mammon  or  amusement.  Merely 
to  rest  from  the  overworking  of  Saturday,  or  for 
gaining  the  more  on  Monday,  is  serving  mammon 
rather  than  God.  If  we  need  a ride,  a visit  to 
the  woods,  a rest  by  the  cheering  streams,  a 


labourer’s  right  to  its  rest.  3B 

stroll  among  the  trees  "which  shade  the  graves  of 
our  beloved  dead,  there  are  six  days  from  which 
to  choose  an  hour  for  this  recreation.  We  are 
not  to  crowd  all  bodily  rest  into  this  one  day.  We 
should  not  become  too  weary  for  a holy  Sabbath 
keeping.  Our  Sabbath  begins  at  as  early  an 
hour  as  other  days.  The  sun  rises  as  soon,  and  so 
should  we.  Well  would  it  be  for  us  to  enter  upon 
this  wakeful,  meditative,  undisturbed,  Sabbatie 
rest  as  early  as  Mary  went  to  the  Saviour’s  tomb. 

It  is  called,  by  one  of  the  Jewish  writers,  “ a 
notable  error  to  imagine  the  Sabbath  to  have  been 
instituted  for  idleness ; for  as  idleness  is  the 
mother  of  all  vice,  it  would  then  have  been  the 
occasion  of  more  evil  than  good.”  Sabbath  idleness 
will  lead  to  every  day  sin. 

It  is  a mercy  that  God  instituted  a Sabbath  for 
man,  for  he  would  never  have  made  one  for  himself. 
Men  would  not  even  make  a night  for  themselves, 
had  not  God  so  arranged  the  curtains  which 
shut  out  the  day,  that  man  has  nothing  to  do  in 
drawing  them.  God  draws  them  at  his  own  hour, 
and  man  must  enter  within  the  veil.  God  brings 
the  Sabbath  on,  whether  we  will  have  it  or  not, 
and  as  it  comes  in  mercy,  let  us  keep  it  in  holiness, 
and  as  the  week  is  ending,  and  Saturday  night 


34 


THE  lord’s  day,  AND  THE 


seems  to  be  tempering  itself  witb  the  sweetness 
of  the  Lord’s  day  morning,  shall  we  not  gladly  sing : 

"When  the  worn  spirit  wants  repose 
And  sighs  her  God  to  seek, 

How  sweet  to  hail  the  evening’s  close 
That  ends  the  weary  week  ? 

Brethren,  do  we  appreciate  this  gift  of  Grod  ? 
Do  we  rest  from  toils  and  thoughts  of  toils,  from 
amusements,  wit,  mirth,  levity,  and  all  that  mars 
this  Sabbath  keeping  ? Christian  parent,  do  you 
teach  your  children  ? The  Sabbath-school  cannot 
do  this  for  you.  Your  pastor  cannot.  Is  there 
a little  group  about  you  listening  to  that  ‘‘  sweet 
story  of  old?”  I love  the  description  of  the 
Cottar’s  Saturday  Night.”  But  what  I love  more 
is  the  memory  of  a real  Sabbath  scene  at  the  old 
home.  A father  sat  by  the  stand,”  and  the 
family  Bible  lay  open  upon  it;  a mother  sat  with 
her  little  one,  teaching  him  becoming  reverence; 
a group  of  children  made  the  fire  side  circle  com- 
plete. We  were  catechized,  and  the  Sabbath-school 
lessons  and  perhaps  the  sermon  were  reviewed  ; 
every  word  of  the  chapter  was  heard,  for  a question 
was  often  asked  upon  the  sentence  just  fiillen 
from  a father’s  lips ; some  stirring  hymn  for  the 
march  to  heaven  was  sung ; and  then,  as  we  all 


labourer’s  right  to  its  rest.  35 

knelt  before  Jehovah’s  throne,  we  felt  that  there 
was  nothing  worth  living  for  but  God,  and  Christ, 
and  eternity.  The  strongest  emotions  of  love 
for  home  I ever  knew,  were  felt  when,  after  long 
absence,  I returned,  to  make  the  family  circle 
complete,  and  heard  a kneeling  father  thank  God 
that  all  his  children  were  gathered  there  again, 
except  the  little  ones  whom  Jesus  had  taken  in 
his  arms  and  borne  away  to  a land  not  very  far  off. 
Never  to  me  was  the  service  of  church  or  temple 
such  a type  of  that  worship  in  a heavenly  Father’s 
house,  where  the  song  is  that  of  Moses  and  the 
Lamb,  and  the  praise  is,  Blessing,  and  honour, 
and  glory,  and  power,  be  unto  Him  that  sitteth 
upon  the  throne,  and  unto  the  Lamb,  for  ever  and 
ever.”  It  is  home’s  great  attraction. 

Fellow  labourer  in  the  church,  is  this  a day 
of  usefulness  ? With  many  it  must  be  a day  of 
Christian  activity.  If  David  could  take  the  shew 
bread”  to  satisfy  his  necessities,  we  may  break  the 
bread  of  eternal  life  unto  others.  There  is  one 
harvest  in  which  we  may  reap  upon  the  Sabbath. 
It  is  that  on  which  our  Lord  looked  when  he 
said,  “ Lift  up  your  eyes,  and  look  on  the  fields  ; 
for  they  are  white  already  to  harvest.”  There  are 
places  round  about  the  holy  hill  which  must  be 


36 


THE  lord’s  DAYj  AND  THE 


made  a blessing.  Teach  and  exhort.  Plead  and 
pray.  Work  the  works  of  God  on  this  day.  If 
the  labourers  are  few,  we  must  bear  more  of  the 
heat  and  burden. 

Friends  and  companions,  who  are  not  professedly 
of  this  fold,  how  do  you  keep  your  Sabbaths  ? 
Perhaps  your  best  impressions  are  received  this 
day.  It  is  a day  of  good  tidings.”  “ If  thou 
turn  away  thy  foot  from  the  Sabbath,  [from 
trampling  on,  or  encroaching  upon  the  Sabbath,] 
from  doing  thy  pleasure  on  my  holy  day  ; and  call 
the  Sabbath  a delight,  the  holy  of  the  Lord,  hon- 
ourable ; and  shalt  honour  him,  not  doing  thine  own 
ways,  nor  finding  thine  own  pleasure,  nor  speaking 
thine  own  words ; then  shalt  thou  delight  thyself 
in  the  Lord;  and  I will  cause  thee  to  ride 
upon  the  high  places  of  the  earth,  and  feed  thee 
with  the  heritage  of  Jacob  thy  father ; for  the 
mouth  of  the  Lord  hath  spoken  it.” 

There  are  many  who  do  appreciate  this  holy  day, 
and  appropriate  its  blessings.  It  were  impossi- 
ble to  tell  their  delight  and  devotion  as  they  hail 
its  welcome  dawn.  IIow  they  sing, 

“ Lord,  in  the  morning  thou  shall  hoar 
My  voice  ascending  high  ! ” 

IIow  gladly  their  feet  go  up  to  the  worship 


labourer’s  right  to  its  rest.  37 

of  God  ! How  gratefully  they  think,  ^^How 
precious  also  are  thy  thoughts  unto  me,  0 God  ! 
how  great  is  the  sum  of  them  !”  In  the  multitude 
of  my  thoughts  within  me,  thy  comforts  delight 
my  soul ! ” 

The  Sabbath  was  made  for  them,  and  they  were 
made  to  glorify  God,  to  show  forth  his  loving- 
kindness in  the  morning  and  his  faithfulness  every 
night  j to  illustrate  the  love  of  Father,  Son,  and 
Holy  Ghost,  and  show  the  glories  of  an  everlasting 
redemption  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.  And 
among  the  blessings,  which  they  would  deliver 
untarnished  to  their  children,  is  the  Sabbath  in- 
violate, unbroken, — a Sabbath  hallowed  by  a ces- 
sation from  human  toils  ; by  all  the  tribute  of 
worship  which  grateful  hearts  can  render ; by  the 
deeds  of  love  and  mercy  which  benevolence  de- 
mands ; and  by  the  blessing  of  God  to  crown  every 
holy  effort,  and  to  engage  all  hearts  in  Jehovah’s 
everlasting  praise.  Thanks  be  unto  the  Lord  that 
the  Sabbath  was  made  for  man.  Blessed  is  the 
man  . . . that  keepeth  the  Sabbath  from  polluting 
it,  and  keepeth  his  hand  from  doing  any  evil.” 
Will  the  Lord  hasten  the  fulfilling  of  that  lovely 
and  rich  promise,  when  it  shall  come  to  pass, 
that  from  one  new  moon  to  another,  and  from  one 
4 


88 


THE  lord’s  day. 


Sabbath  to  another,  shall  all  flesh  come  to  worship 
before  me,  saith  the  Lord.”  Evermore,  Lord  of 
the  Sabbath,  may  we  be  “ in  the  spirit  on  the  Lord’s 
day.” 

A few  more  Sabbaths  here 
Shall  cheer  us  on  our  way  ; 

And  we  shall  reach  the  endless  rest, 

The  eternal  Sabbath  day. 

Then,  0 my  Lord,  prepare 
My  soul  for  that  sweet  day  ; 

Oh,  wash  me  in  thy  precious  blood, 

And  take  my  sins  away. — Bonar. 


APPENDIX. 


Appendix  A. 

Point  out  to  us  a single  religious  observance 
of*  the  Hebrews  that  is  now  done  away,  and  we 
are  able  to  say  of  it,  and  of  all  others  which  have 
experienced  a similar  termination,  that  they,  every 
one  of  them,  lie  without  the  compass  of  the  ten 
commandments.  They  have  no  place  whatever 
in  that  great  record  of  duty,  which  was  graven 
on  tables  of  stone,  and  placed  within  the  holy  of 
holies,  under  the  mercy-seat.  Now  how  does  the 
law  of  the  Sabbath  stand  in  this  particular  ? We 
perceive  it  occupying  its  own  conspicuous  place  in 
that  register  of  duties,  all  of  which  have  the  sub- 
stance and  the  irrevocable  permanency  of  moral 
principle.  On  reading  over  the  other  articles  of 
this  memorable  code  we  see  all  of  them  stamped 
with  such  enduring  characters  of  obligation,  as  no 

(39) 


40 


APPENDIX. 


time  can  wear  away  • and  the  law  of  the  Sabbath 
taking  its  station  in  the  midst  of  them,  and  en- 
shrined on  each  side  of  it,  among  the  immutabili- 
ties of  truth,  and  justice,  and  piety/’ — Chalmers’s 
Sermon  on  the  Christian  Sabbath. 


Appendix  B. 

The  change  from  the  last  to  the  first  day,  was 
the  same  as  from  the  seventh  to  the  eighth.  Some 
writers  have  sought  for  a foreshadowing  of  this,  in 
the  prominence  given  to  the  eighth  day  in  the  Old 
Testament ; on  the  eighth  day  circumcision  was 
performed;  the  first  born  of  cattle  offered;  animals 
accepted  in  sacrifice;  priests  consecrated  ; certain 
cleansings  performed  ; the  temple  dedicated,  and 
in  the  time  of  Hezekiah  sanctified  ; the  Feast  of 
Tabernacles  terminated  ; a solemn  assembly  was 
held  in  Ezra’s  time : the  first  fruits  accepted — 
a type  of  Him  who  was  the  “ first  fruits  of  them 
that  slept.”  The  fifteenth  day  was  an  eighth  day 
(after  twice  seven).  The  fiftieth  would  be  the  first 
day  after  seven  times  seven  days,!,  e.,  an  eighth  day. 

In  fulfilling  these  types, — Jesus  was  revived 


APPENDIX. 


41 


as  the  first  born  from  the  dead,  his  sacrifice  accen- 
ted, and  as  the  great  High  Priest,  he  conse- 
crated for  evermore’^  on  the  eighth  day,  or  our 
first  day  of  the  week.  It  is  well  to  note  this. 
It  shows  that  the  change  was  not  an  abrupt  one, 
and  perhaps  it  was  fully  provided  for  in  the  cer- 
emonial law.— >^66  Haldane  on  Romans,  pp.  708- 
713.  We  do  not  need  a new  precept  for  the  Sab- 
bath. ‘‘  A re  enactment  in  the  New  Testament,  it 
has  been  properly  observed,  would  be  a denial,  by 
implication,  of  its  previous  institution  and  author- 
ity. Nothing  is  re-enacted  in  the  gospel.^^  All 
we  need  is,  a proof  of  the  change,  and  authority 
for  it.  That  we  have  in  the  examples  of  our  Lord 
and  his  apostles. — Haldane,  p.  714. 


Appendix  C. 

Hugh  Miller  wrote  thus  of  his  observations  on 
Sabbath  amusements  in  London.  I lodged  within 
a stone  cast  of  the  Glreat  Manchester  and  Birming- 
ham Railway.  I could  hear  the  roaring  ©f  the 
trains  along  the.  line,  from  morning  till  midday, 
4 * 


42 


APPENDIX. 


and  during  the  whole  afternoon  ; and  just  as  the 
evening  was  setting  in,  I sauntered  down  to  the 
gate  by  which  a return  train  was  discharging  its 
hundreds  of  passengers,  fresh  from  the  Sabbath 
amusements  of  the  country,  that  I might  see 
how  they  looked.  There  did  not  seem  much  of 
enjoyment  about  the  wearied  and  somewhat  drag- 
gled groups ; they  wore,  on  the  contrary,  rather 
an  unhappy  physiognomy,  as  if  they  had  missed 
spending  the  day  quite  to  their  minds,  and  were 
now  returning,  sad  and  disappointed,  to  the  round 
of  toil,  from  which  it  ought  to  have  proved  a sweet 
interval  of  relief.  A congregation  just  dismissed 
from  hearing  a vigorous  evening  discourse  would 
have  borne,  to  a certainty,  a more  cheerful  air. 
There  was  not  much  actual  drunkenness  among  the 
crowd.  . . not  a tithe  of  what  I would  have  witness- 
ed, on  a similar  occasion,  in  my  own  country  ; a few 
there  were,  however,  evidently  muddled ; and  I 
saw  one  positive  scene.’'  He  also  says. 

Among  the  existing  varieties  of  the  genus 
philanthropist — benevolent  men  bent  on  bettering 
the  condition  of  the  masses — there  is  a variety  who 
would  fain  send  out  our  working  people  to  the 
country  on  Sabbaths,  to  become  happy  and  innocent 
in  smelling  primroses,  and  stringing  daisies  on  grass 


APPENDIX. 


43 


stalks;  an  excellent  scheme  theirs,  if  they  but  knew 
it,  for  sinking  a people  into  ignorance  and  bru- 
tality,— for  filling  a country  with  gloomy  work- 
houses,  and  the  work-houses  with  unhappy  pau- 
pers. ^Tis  pity  that  the  institution  of  the  Sab- 
bath, in  its  economic  bearings,  should  not  be  better 
understood  by  the  utilitarian.’^  ....  In  order  to 
degrade  him  (man)  into  a poor  unintellectual  slave, 
over  whom  tyranny,  in  its  caprice,  may  trample 
rough  shod,  it  is  but  necessary  to  tie  him  down, 
animal  like,  during  his  six  working  days,  to  hard 
engrossing  labour,  and  to  convert  the  seventh  into 
a day  of  frivolous,  unthinking  relaxation.  History 
speaks  with  much  emphasis  on  the  point.  The 
old  despotic  Stuarts  were  tolerable  adepts  in  the 
art  of  king-craft,  and  knew  well  what  they  were 
doing,  when  they  backed  with  their  authority  the 
Book  of  Sports.  The  merry,  unthinking  serfs,  who, 
early  in  the  reign  of  Charles  the  First,  danced  on 
Sabbaths  round  the  May  pole,  were  afterwards  the 
ready  tools  of  despotism,  and  fought  that  England 
might  be  enslaved.  The  Ironsides,  who,  in  the 
cause  of  religious  freedom,  bore  them  down,  were 
staunch  Sabbatarians.”  He  then  refers  to  the  value 
of  the  Sabbath  as  illustrated  by  the  Scotch  in  the 
17th  and  18th  centuries,  when  ^‘religion  and  the 


44 


APPENDIX. 


Sabbath  were  tbeir  sole  instructors.’^  There  were 
no  Societies  for  the  Diffusion  of  Useful  Knowledge 
in  those  days.  But  the  Sabbath  was  kept  holy; 
it  was  a day  from  which  every  dissipating  frivolity 
was  excluded  by  a stern  sense  of  duty.  The  pop- 
ular mind,  with  weight  imparted  to  it  by  its  reli- 
gious earnestness,  and  direction  by  the  pulpit  ad- 
dresses of  the  day,  expatiated  on  matters  of  grave 
import,  of  which  the  tendency  was  to  concentrate 
and  strengthen,  not  scatter  and  weaken  the  facul- 
ties ; and  the  secular  cogitations  of  the  week  came 
to  bear,  in  consequence,  a Sabbath  day  stamp  of 
depth  and  solidity.  The  one  day  in  the  seven  struck 
the  tone  for  the  other  six.  Our  modern  apostles  of 
popular  instruction  rear  up  no  such  men  among  the 
masses,  as  were  developed  under  the  Sabbatarian 
system  in  Scotland.”* 


♦ First  Impressions  of  England  and  its  People,  pp.  67 — 71. 


THE  LORD’S  DAY. 


Sweet  is  the  work,  my  God,  my  King, 

To  praise  thy  name,  give  thanks  and  sing; 
To  show  thy  love  by  morning  light, 

And  talk  of  all  thy  truth  at  night. 

Sweet  is  the  day  of  sacred  rest ; 

No  mortal  care  shall  seize  my  breast; 

Oh  ! may  my  heart  in  tune  be  found. 

Like  David’s  harp  of  solemn  sound  ! 

My  heart  shall  triumph  in  my  Lord, 

And  bless  his  works  and  bless  his  word ; 
Thy  works  of  grace  how  bright  they  shine 
How  deep  thy  counsels  ! how  divine  ! 

Fools  never  raise  their  thoughts  so  high  ; 
Like  brutes  they  live,  like  brutes  they  die  ; 
Like  grass  they  flourish,  till  thy  breath 
Blast  them  in  everlasting  death. 

But  I shall  share  a glorious  part, 

AVhen  grace  hath  well  refined  my  heart, 
And  fresh  supplies  of  joy  are  shed. 

Like  holy  oil  to  cheer  my  head. 

Sin  (my  worst  enemy  before) 

Shall  vex  my  eyes  and  ears  no  more ; 

My  inward  foes  shall  all  be  slain. 

Nor  Satan  break  my  peace  again. 

Then  shall  I see,  and  hear,  and  know 
All  I desired  or  wished  below ; 

And  every  power  find  sweet  employ, 

In  that  eternal  world  of  joy. 


(45) 


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Publish  a variety  of  Books  of  an  Evangelical 
character,  suitable  for 

UStuisters  $c  (Kijurrlj  Eiiraries, 


CALVIN, 

OWEN, 

3AXTER, 

HENRY, 

DODDRIDGE, 


Among 
which  are  to 
be  found 
many  of  the 
works  of 


CHARNOCK, 
M‘CRIE, 
MILLER, 
ALEXANDER, 
HODGE, &C. 


ALSO  A VARJEXr  OF 

liililiatli  Irljnnl  Sounh, 

liislructive  in  their  subjects,  and  attractive  in  the  style 
of  Binding  and  Embellishments. 

While  care  has  been  taken  tliat  none  of  the  books  pub- 
li.'h  al  by  the  Board  shall  be  opposed  to  the  doctrines  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  or  hostile  to  the  spirit  of  Pres- 
byter  an  Institutions,  yet  most  of  them  are  so  free  from 
a strictly  denominational  character,  as  to  be  acceptable 
to  evangelical  Christians  of  all  denominations.  Others 
are  of  a decidedly  I’resbyterian  character,  and  set  forth 
the  doctrines  and  polity  of  the  church  in  unequivocal 
terms.  These  are  designed  to  show  what  Presbyterianism 
is  and  ought  to  be. 

Plvery  congri'gation  should  have  a Congregational  Li- 
brary, which  should  be  regularly  suicplicd  with  every 
book  the  Board  juiblishes. 

Besides  this,  every  family  in  a congregation  should 
have,  for  their  own  use,  a few  of  the  best  works  publish- 
ed by  the  Board,  to  which  they  can  constantly  recur. 

Every  congregation  should  purchase  anumlK*r  of  copies 
of  such  books  as  Baxter’s  Call,  Baxter’s  Saint’s  Best, 
Doddridge’s  llise  and  Progress,  Alleine’s  Alarm,  Almost 
Christian,  &c.,  to  lend  or  give  away  to  persons  in  their 
neighbourhood,  who  belong  to  no  church,  and  feel  no  in- 
b-rest  in  religion.  | 

JO.S.  P.  ENGLES,  Publishing  Agent,  i 
No.  821  Chestnut  ISl.  Philad’a.  | 


I 


y.. 


